Monday, September 11, 2017

If you are on social media or regularly watch Youtube beauty channels, you've probably been seeing a lot of buzz on the new Urban Decay Troublemaker Mascara ($29 CAD). Cheekily touted as the "sex-proof" mascara, the Troublemaker promises extreme volume and a failsafe wear. So does it actually live up to its claim? Read my reviews and see some before and after swatches to find out......

Packaging:
The Troublemaker Mascara comes in an eye-catching double-barreled tube with a beautiful rainbow chrome finish. What's really interesting, though, is the custom-designed brush comb applicator. At varying length, sparse rows of plastic bristles encircle the wand, which is designed to create a separating and volumizing effect.
Unfortunately, I experienced quite a lot of difficulty with this applicator. The comb bristles are long and sparse while I have short and wispy lashes. Therefore, it was almost impossible to catch and coat my lashes without poking myself in the eyes or smudging mascara all over the lid. There are a couple rows of shorter bristles but it was impossible to use those as well because if I positioned them along my lashes, the longer rows end up being placed dangerously close to my eyes.

Formulation:
With a solid, non-runny formulation a dash of lengthening microfibers, the Urban Decay Troublemaker did a good job at defining and volumizing the lashes. There was definitely a bit of clumping, however, as I had a lot of trouble applying a smooth coating. The formulation held the curls pretty well initially but within 15 or so minutes, my lashes fell flat.
Now let's address this supposed "sex-proof" wear, the main sales pitch that Urban Decay has been using to promote this mascara. I wore the mascara for a day and even before I went to the gym, things were starting to go downhill. There were noticeable smudging within just a few hours and after doing half an hour on the treadmill, there were even more smudging and noticeable flaking. I didn't put this mascara through sex but seeing that it can't even make it through a half an hour work out, I'm going to say that it's probably not sex-proof.

Overall, the Urban Decay Troublemaker Mascara just didn't do it for me. The sparse comb applicator is not suitable for short and small lashes while the formulation is not smudge-proof, waterproof, and definitely not sex-proof! The packaging is gorgeous and as much as I wanted to like this one, it just didn't live up to its claims.